Streets of Kasım Paşa: Minaret Lost Amidst Concrete

The minaret of a small mosque is hidden amidst a forest of unadorned concrete structures built with minimal investments and maximum yields in mind, probably during the 1960s or 70s. Many such buildings only barely pass present-day vetting for earthquake resilience. The tall structure in the center probably owes its improbable form to being built on the plot of a razed characteristically-narrow 19th-century low-rise structure. The ensemble created by these unattractive buildings, however, has an undeniable, albeit harsh, beauty of its own.